MBCE Posted September 7, 2008 Posted September 7, 2008 "Nice try! But don't think your little trick is going to get to me. Now, you may not care about one person, but do you think your boss will appreciate a very heavy loss in customers?" A very strong arctic chill sweeps over the entire room, affecting everyone who isn't on her side of this conflict. [DC 10 saves from Environmental Control if she can keep this up.] The sudden dropping of the room's temperature causes a few people upon the floor to scream out in pain. The three security guards however, all manage to resist the draining effect of the cold. The leader turns his attention upon Capricia as he realizes that she was more of a threat to the people in the casino than the demon ever was. His job was clear. To protect the casino from bing robbed. Secondary was to protect the patrons. But even he had problems with a room full of bystanders getting wasted. A few dying in the crossfire was acceptable. Losing them all was not. He turned away from the demon and charged Capricia. His momentum was enough to allow him to hit the woman. Even as the leader moved, the remaining two went to work on the remaining members of the gang. Another stunning blast catches the two remaining thugs but only one drops. With the cowboy clear of the demon's grip, the magnetic man turned his powers upon the demon. A blast of magnetic power flew out at the demon, but at teh last moment, Belphegor managed to sidestep the attack. The kick catches Ghost squarely and the force of the blow is enough to drive the air from his lungs. The thief doubles up in pain as he tries to regain his wind.
Dr Archeville Posted September 7, 2008 Posted September 7, 2008 The kickboxer laughs, "t'is be over too soon!," as he whirls again and aims a devastating blow at Ghost... ... and misses! The wall behind Ghost, though, takes a nasty hit; there's not a hole going all the way through, but there is a deep foot-shaped indentation. You are an interesting one, Ghost hears in his head, he should not have missed like that. Maybe we'll keep you, study you. Belphegor charges for the magnetic man, snarling. "You think you can defeat us? Defeat me?! Your command of metal may make you a match for faeries, but not a demon of the Pit!" Hellfire flashes as he claws the man. "Scream for me, mortal! Scream me a sweet song of suffering!" Damn, this feels good!
MBCE Posted September 8, 2008 Posted September 8, 2008 Belphegor charges for the magnetic man, snarling. "You think you can defeat us? Defeat me?! Your command of metal may make you a match for faeries, but not a demon of the Pit!" Hellfire flashes as he claws the man. "Scream for me, mortal! Scream me a sweet song of suffering!" Damn, this feels good! Belphegor's claws rip through the man causing the man to lose his concentration, opening him up to more pain and damage. The Ghost manages to catch his breath as the kickboxer's blow sails by his bent form. That was too close. I need space. The thief looked up at the electrical wires that were connected to the chandiler. He smiled slightly as a plan began to form in his head. The wires, exposed now were still swinging free. Ghost watched as one of the wires managed to touch the kickboxer as it swung by. At that exact moment, the city grid expereinced a power surge. Most of the breakers within the casino were strong enough to absorb the extra power, but the exposed wire did not. Electricty flowed unhindered into the kickboxer. [Electrical DC 20 toughness] Ghost didn't wait around to see the results as he moved quickly towards the cover of the slot machines. Within the rows of machines, he hoped to have enough cover to lose the kickboxer.
MBCE Posted September 24, 2008 Posted September 24, 2008 Belphegor charges for the magnetic man, snarling. "You think you can defeat us? Defeat me?! Your command of metal may make you a match for faeries, but not a demon of the Pit!" Hellfire flashes as he claws the man. "Scream for me, mortal! Scream me a sweet song of suffering!" Damn, this feels good! Belphegor's claws rip through the man causing the man to lose his concentration, opening him up to more pain and damage. Seeing his companion in danger, the blaster turns his powers upon the demon. A blast of concussive force flies out towards the demon but fails to hit. The blast hits the nearby roullette table, destroying it. Capricia takes the blow and is wounded taking a slight step back from her opponent.
Dr Archeville Posted September 27, 2008 Posted September 27, 2008 The loose wire swung by and struck the kickboxer in his bare chest, causing a loud POP and a bright flash. If Ghost looked back, he would see the man was slumped on the floor. Ghost does not har the Mentalist in his head. Perhaps the guy does not see/sense him? Take out the one helpless at my feet, or the one who just blasted at me? New guy: more fun! "You wish to join your companion in song?" the demon bellows to the Blaster-Man as his internal fires concentrate into his hands, then into a growing ball of dark flame. "Come, form a choir for my amusement!" He hurls the gigantic ball of fiery doom towards the Blaster... and hits him almost dead-center!
MBCE Posted October 5, 2008 Posted October 5, 2008 Take out the one helpless at my feet, or the one who just blasted at me? New guy: more fun! "You wish to join your companion in song?" the demon bellows to the Blaster-Man as his internal fires concentrate into his hands, then into a growing ball of dark flame. "Come, form a choir for my amusement!" He hurls the gigantic ball of fiery doom towards the Blaster... and hits him almost dead-center! The blow easily hits the guard and there was enough power behind it to rock his world. The blaster staggers back slightly and it's clear that he is near being knocked out of this fight. The attack on his companion was just enough to give Magnet man time to clear his head. Though his breath came in small gasps, he still had the presence of mind to send another blast right at Belaphegor. With the Kickboxer not coming directly after him, Ghost knew that Lady Fortune had smiled upon him again. Time to take out the garbage. The Ghost moved slowly and quietly until he could get a look at the mentalist that was playing with his mind. Unlike the kickboxer who had been in a position near the chandiler, the mentalist was in a fairly safe location. The curtain rod that bounced off of the force field protecting him was still at the guard's feet. Not much to go on here. Come on. There's got to be something for Lady Fortune to place in my direction. Nearby, the broken roullete table remained in pieces. Just as Ghost was wondering how his luck will work, the battle on the other side of the room was fully underway. The guard that showed magnetic abilites had just recovered enough to send a blast of magnetic force at Belphagor. The highly charged magnetic field reached out and managed to grab hold of the loose metal from the roullette table. The metal began to move and just as luck would have it, the mentalist guard had just stepped into the path. [bludgeoning Toughness DC 20] The Ghost smiled as his luck seemed to take form again. I hope that's enough to drop him, though.
Dr Archeville Posted October 6, 2008 Posted October 6, 2008 Ghost hears nothing but his own thoughts in his head as it appears the Tim Burton look-alike cannot find him, despite looking somewhat frantically about. He does turn when the large piece of metal comes hurling towards him, though it is only to see where it came from, as his force field flashes visible again briefly as it absorbs the brunt of the impact. Ghost sees that the man briefly looks to the section of the wall he'd stepped out from, then turns back to the slow machines, slowly scanning them. He doesn't seem to be really doing anything... but with a mentalist, how could you know? "GRAHOOF!" the demon bellows as the blast slams into & knocks the wind out of him. "Ik... zal... u... doden...."
MBCE Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 "GRAHOOF!" the demon bellows as the blast slams into & knocks the wind out of him. "Ik... zal... u... doden...." The blaster, now with his wits about him, takes advantage of the demon's present condition. He points his arms at the stunned demon. A blast of force rockets out towards Belphegor, hitting with tremendous force. His partner smiles as he sees the blast plow into the demon and uses his own powers to take out last remaining henchman. The Ghost frown again as he saw the blow get absorbed by the guard's force field. Damn thing is strong. Got to take him down quick. The Ghost looked over as the Magnetic man again used his powers to take out the remaining Henchman. Again the overflow of that force sent a number of items flying at the mentalist. [bludgeoning DC 20] The ghost frowned again as he caught sight of Belphegor's condition. We've got to end this quickly!
Dr Archeville Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 The mentalist continues looking for Ghost, but looks in all the wrong places. His force field falters, though, as a pair of dice -- likely weighted -- makes it through and clocks him in the left temple. The blast hits the demon right between the eyes, and he falls.
MBCE Posted October 9, 2008 Posted October 9, 2008 The blast hits the demon right between the eyes, and he falls. The two guards, badly wounded, move over to stand above the demon. "The hell is this thing? He almost ripped out my guts!" says the magnetic guy. "Your guts? Look at me! If I hadn't stepped in to distract him, you'd most likely be dead now. Instead of that, I'm in the same boat as you," replied the blaster. The two men turn to survey the area and frown at the scene that greets their eyes. One of their buddies was already down and the other didn't look to be in any better shape. Only one of them caught sight of the man poking his head out from among the slot machines. The Ghost watched the mentalist and smiled as he saw his dazed expression. Perfect timing. Since the beginning of this fight, the walls were peppered from stray items flying everywhere. It just so happened that one section of the wall near the mentalist was badily damaged by items bouncing off of the man's force field. As luck would have it, a small section of it decided just at that moment to fall off hitting the mentalist. [bludgeoning DC 20]
Dr Archeville Posted October 9, 2008 Posted October 9, 2008 The items falls with a very satisfying thud, and from the lanky man's stance he's obviously quite woozy. Blaster-Boy, who can just make Ghost out amongst all the clutter, steadies himself and takes careful aim. Magnet-Man, who does not see him, moves -- slowly -- to try and get a better view. Belphegor lies unconscious.
MBCE Posted October 9, 2008 Posted October 9, 2008 The Ghost smiled as he saw the results on the mentalist. That'll teach him not to play head games with me. One more good shot should do him in. Again his mysterious power worked its way out and affected the world around him. Capricia's manipulation of the environment of the casino had slowly been taking effect on the pipes that ran throughout the wall, carrying water from one end to the other. One such pipe, now exposed, exploded sending a stream of high pressure water at the mentalist. [bludgeoning water DC 20] His attention, focused on the mentalist, Ghost almost was unaware of the danger he was in from the other two guards still in the area. A slight hunch was the only warning for him to turn around just in time to check on the other two guys' position.
Dr Archeville Posted October 9, 2008 Posted October 9, 2008 The Mentalist lets out a grunt as the water hits with the force of a hunting rifle, but he seems really not much worse off. He's still reeling, still unfocused. Ghost turns just in time to see a bolt of force from the Blaster slam into him. He can also make out the other one, the Magnet-Man, slowly moving around, though he appears to have the same optometrist as the Mentalist.
MBCE Posted October 10, 2008 Posted October 10, 2008 The blast caught the Ghost completely unprepared. As his world began to blur, he steadied his nerves and realized he wasn't hurt as badly as he thought. That was close! Another shot like that will be the end of me. Got to take him down. The Ghost again turned his power upon the stunned mentalist. The jet of water had played itself out, but the mentalist was standing in a pool of water. The casino over teh years ahd slowly begun to slope in one direction. The pool of water began moving down that slope which happened to be right where the electrical wiring from the chandiler was touching the ground. The water quickly completed the conection from the electrical wire to the mentalist, sending a bolt of power through the stunned man. [Eletric DC 20] Even as the the mentalist had suffered a bad stream of luck, The Ghost darted deeper among the various machines in an attempt to hide from the blaster.
Dr Archeville Posted October 10, 2008 Posted October 10, 2008 Luck can be a fickle thing. Like now, for instance: while the electrical shock of Ghost's "attack" did cause some damage (and frizzed the lanky Mentalist's hair so he now looked exactly like Tim Burton), it also seemed to invigorate him! And his eyes were focused dead center on Ghost! Ghost felt, more than 'heard', the mentalist's anger, as searing pain tore through his brain. [DC 21 Will save; Ghost is at -3 due to his bruises]. At almost the same instant, the Blaster and Magnet Man -- whose fields of vision Ghost seems to have stumbled directly into -- lets go with their respective powers, another blast of force and a magnetic energy blast.
MBCE Posted October 10, 2008 Posted October 10, 2008 Oh crap! The Ghost grunted from the pain invading his mind which caused him to stumble out into view of the other two men. The blaster's shot was powerful, rocking The Ghost on his heels. The shift put him directly in the path of the magnetic blast which is just enough to put him down. The world goes blank for the thief.
Dr Archeville Posted October 14, 2008 Posted October 14, 2008 Time passes.... When Ghost awakens, it is at first to the sound of rattling chains; he cannot see, as he has a sack over his head, though it's not so thick that he is in total darkness, he can tell that there is a light on somewhere above him. He feels he is secured, via zip-ties, to a fairly comfortable non-wheeled chair in a quiet air conditioned room. He also feels that his clothes are all ruffled, and likely have been rifled through. Concentrating a moment, he realizes the rattling chains sound is coming from his left, and he can just make out some muttering in... some unknown Germanic-sounding language. It was most likely the demon, cursing in his demon-tongue. "He's awake now, Don." a soft female voice says. "Good!," a deep and commanding voice said. Ghost had a very bad feeling about this situation. "Maybe we'll have a bit more luck with this one." Ghost suddenly felt a hand on his chest, a soft, feminine hand. "You've both been very naughty boys," the female's voice again, though now it seems somehow hypnotic, sultry, "coming in here and tearing things up. And the hospital bills for our boys -- they'll be through the roof! How will we settle this, hrm?" "What I did to them is nothing compared to what I'll--" "Silence, demone!" The softness was gone, her voice was all edge now. "We are talking now, not you!" Amazingly, the Demon was quiet. "Now," she said, her voice back to its hypnotic sultryness, "tell us, what would you like to do to make this up to us?"
MBCE Posted October 20, 2008 Posted October 20, 2008 The Ghost blinked in surprise at finding himself tied and blindfolded. He didn't expect to even be alive after the getting knocked out earlier. The woman's voice was one he had not heard before and he took a moment to gather his wits before speaking. Hmm, they must want something from us. We would be dead otherwise. Lady Fortune has watched out for her man again. The question is, what do they want with us? Did she say Don? This has got to be one of the mob bosses, but which one? "Well, um, want do you need?" Ghost answered with a bit of uncertainty in his voice. "You kind of got us at a disadvantage here, lady. If doing a job for you is goign to help me keep my skin a while longer, no problems."
Dr Archeville Posted October 26, 2008 Posted October 26, 2008 "Glad to see you're being so cooperative, Mr. Cosentino," the soft female voice replies. "O shall we just call you Sammy? Yes, we know who you are, we've seen you on the cameras, heard you on the microphones, here and in a few other places. You made nice work of those guards in your first job... not to mention, our own men." "And now you'll be working for us," the deep and commanding voice said. Ghost felt the soft feminine hands trace across his neck and upper back, sending shivers down his spine, "well, for a little bit, at least. A job or two, nothing I'm sure you can't handle. And that... that can't handle." Ghost could tell that last bit was directed to the demon. "Any time, any place, girlie, you jus-" "Be quiet!," she commanded, and he was. "So," she said, her voice back to its hypnotic sultryness, "a couple of jobs, for both of you, done for us. We will contact you when we need you, and when we do, you will drop everything and come running. You two may be working together, or they may be separate jobs, but in either case, you will be watched, to make sure you're not... misbehaving. Do you understand, Mister Cosentino?"
MBCE Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 The Ghost shrugs his shoulders slightly as the owman mentions his identity. He had never really tried to hide who he was once he reached Freedom. Perhaps that was something he needed to change in the future. But first, he had to get out of the mess he found himself in at the moment. "Do a few jobs for you in return for my life? Sure, I can do that. Shows Lady Fortune's watching out for me since you're even talking to me now. Might as well go where the dice lead me." Ghost turns his head slightly in the direction he heard th demon call out from. "I'd suggest you just take the deal, man. We would be dead now if not for their desire to talk to us, and even you can appreciate that stroke of luck."
Dr Archeville Posted November 7, 2008 Posted November 7, 2008 "I don't take deals, I make the-- yargh! "You friend is quite stubborn," the deep and commanding voice said. "Sometimes that can be good. But not in this instance." Ghost could make out some whisperings coming from behind him. He could make out that it was the woman's voice, and what she was saying sounded vaguely like Italian, but it also seemed very... different. More... primal. "We will contact you when we need you. Don't leave town until then -- we'll still be able to find you, we just don't want to have to spend any unnecessary time or effort in sending you your orders, capiche?"
MBCE Posted November 7, 2008 Posted November 7, 2008 Ghost frowned within his bag. Itallian. Obviously the mob which means there is only a handfull of people with the power and resources to hold the two of us even if we were taken out before hand. At least Lady Fortune has given me this chance to live. "Sure. Don't leave town and wait to be contacted. I can do that with no problems. Get word to Lenny, I stay in contact with him fairly regularly."
MBCE Posted November 23, 2008 Posted November 23, 2008 'I hope that satisfies them. I don'T need to be tied up here any longer. Now if demon boy would simply agree, we can get out of here with at least our lives intact.' Sammy took a moment to calm down. The present situation was still very dangerous as he had little ideas as to who was pulling the strings. It could have been anyone, but most likely it was one person. Only one man would have a woman that spoke with such power. Sammy had tried to avoid any encounters with the Don but this was truely unexpected. How long had the Don been watching the casino and waiting for The Ghost to screw up? For that matter, what did the Don want of him?
Dr Archeville Posted November 30, 2008 Posted November 30, 2008 "A wise decision, Mr. Cosentino," the deep and commanding voice said. "Definitely wiser than your initial decision to try and rob my casino in the first place. But, as they say, good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. Now, as for your demonic associate..." Ghost could still hear the woman's voice in the background, growing more and more intense, paradoxically seeming to be both right next to his ear and coming from a world away. "I don't know who you are, or what, exactly, you are, but my own associate here does. And she tells me she can work some powerful spells on you, given enough time and preparation, and the proper materials. Such as, for instance, the few scales we pulled out of your back." The demon growled. "Which means if you don't agree to our terms, my associate will use you as her magical guinea pig for the next several weeks, until she tires of you and either banishes you of whatever Hell you crawled out of... or binds you in some sealed-off basement that no one will ever find." The demon was quite. "Ah, that's got your attention. Good. Besides, it's not like we'll be asking you to do something you would be opposed to doing. So, why not just agree, and we can all get on with out lives, eh?" "... fine." Ghost could sense a shift in the woman's voice, as if she'd turned slightly and was now facing the demon. "Excellent! Well, I'll let her finish up, and then we'll send you on home. Just remember, don't go too far." Ghost could hear that the large man rose from his chair, walked around behind him, and out the door. There was more shuffling and movement, but he could not make out exactly what. The woman's voice continued to drone on and on, almost hypnotic.... The next thing Ghost realized, he was seated on a bench at a bus stop; looking around, he guessed he was still in the Boardwalk in South Freedom. His watch told him about two hours had passed since he first entered the Golden Calf; his numerous aches and pains from the fight, and from the beating he received while unconscious, told him he'd be quite sore for the next few days. He also found a small slip of paper sticking out from under his watch. Opening it, he would find the following note: Hair serves as well as scales Don't leave town, don't tell anyone about this We are watching ~ We will call you And if he were to check his hair, he would indeed find that locks from both the left and right sides had been taken (at least they kept it even). Belphegor awoke slumped in an alley behind a nightclub. Rising to his feet, he bellowed in anger, then took off into the night. [[ And that concludes this adventure. The next part -- where Ghost & Belphegor are "called in" -- can be done in another thread. ]]
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